


Of the people, for the people

by ReleasingTheKrakenIsMyFetish



Series: Ree [5]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Drunken Flirting, F/M, Feelings, Getting to Know Each Other, Heartbeats, Long Shot, Mild Sexual Content, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Original Character(s), Recreational Drug Use, Relationship(s), Sexual Tension, Shooting Guns, Shooting Range, Slow Dancing, Smut, To Be Continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 14:51:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12134820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReleasingTheKrakenIsMyFetish/pseuds/ReleasingTheKrakenIsMyFetish
Summary: Hancock tries his best to help Ree facing her traumatic past. Maybe some jet afterwards isn't such a bad idea...? The story of Ree & Hancock continues.





	Of the people, for the people

Hancock opened the warehouse door. It was a bit swollen in its frames, so he had to give it a good bang before it opened. I stepped in and let my eyes get adjusted to the shades. I now wore leather boots in my feet, a short, dark green jacket and back in my room I had left some leathery armor pieces. My hair was in a ponytail – Fahrenheit had suggested to get it cut since it would be easy for someone to grab a hold of it during a fight, but I refused for now. I probably seemed vain, but my hair was something I best liked about myself.

The warehouse was long and narrow, and it had a built in shooting range. When I saw that I stumbled a bit and turned to Hancock.

”Wait”, I raised my hands. ”I can't use guns. Could I just get a blade or something?”

Hancock looked like me with amusement.

”You gonna try 'n swing the bullets back with that?” he asked. ”A blade is a good melee weapon, but in order to properly protect yourself you will need a gun. Didn't you have one back when you two were living in the cottage?”

”No”, I replied and lowered my hands to clutch myself. ”I only had a sort of machete. Holly knew how to shoot and she kept the more dangerous creatures at bay with it.”

”Well, today's as good as any day to learn”, he said and took a small handgun from a table. I noticed there were four different kinds, but I didn't really recognize them. I took a step back from the table, as the guns could jump on me.

”Here”, he held out the gun for me. ”Try this one. It works on the people, but makes only small damage to bigger baddies. But it also has just a slight kick, so it should be fine for you to start with.”

I felt the familiar panic starting to stir. I didn't want to touch it.

”Go ahead.”

He put the gun in my hands without paying attention to my shaking hands. I was sure I'd drop the gun immediately, but instead my fingers curled around it, forming a tight grip.

”I'm serious, I can't do this”, I heard my own voice creeping higher than normal. Hancock just pressed his hands on my shoulders and walked me at the other end of the shooting range.

With another hand he supported my pose while with the other hand he lifted my hands up to my eye level.

”Relax”, he murmured. ”Look at the target. Trace the way to it with your eyes. Put your finger carefully on the trigger.”

I was completely succumbed in panic. My breathing was rapid and shallow, and it was hard to see clearly. I only faintly heard what he said to me.

”Now... Squeeze, don't pull.”

Loud bang echoed in the room, and my whole body felt the shock when the bullet went flying. The target, which was a tall, empty tin can, seemed to jump on its own in the air. It landed the stone floor with a hollow clank.

I stared at the gun, which begun to feel warm in my hands. It had become alive. It copied my heartbeat and it was everything I could hear. Hancock let go of me and laughed. He said something in an excited voice, but I didn't understand it. I was still holding the gun. No, it was holding me. I was 16 again and I saw a body in front of me, just three or four feet away. So much blood on the linoleum.

”That's what I'm talking about! You're a natural, Ree. I actually got a bit aroused because of that”, he turned to look at me and saw me sliding on my knees. I could only imagine what I must've looked, because he was instantly on my side on one knee and grabbed my arms so I wouldn't fall completely down.

”Take-”, I whispered with a dry voice. ”Take... the gun from me. I can't... It doesn't let go of me.” I felt a tear drop from my left eye which, as the other one as well, was wide open.

”Shit”, he grunted and grabbed the gun. He actually had to use some force to open my hands and when he had managed to do that, he took the gun and slid it away.

Then he took my face in his hands and turned me so that our eyes met. He saw that I had completely lost it. He moved his hands on my shoulders and drew me against his chest, taking me in to a gentle hold. I think he might have said something, but I was still too lost to grasp anything.

For a moment I just let my hands droop down, like the gun had sucked all the strength from them. But after a while I could lift them up. I grabbed the fabric of Hancock's backside and let the tears come.

_I'm such a loser._

After a few minutes had passed Hancock still didn't let go, but this time I could hear his voice.

”You all right?”

I gave a small nod at first, but then shook my head.

”I'm- I guess I'm not. I've never shot a gun since I was a teen. Someone broke down in our house one night. I was going to get water, so I saw him. He had a knife and he tried to kill me with it. But I got to the drawer where I knew my dad kept a loaded gun. When he jumped at me, I shot. I didn't even look. I kept my eyes closed. Then he was lying on the floor and bleeding. I killed him.”

Hancock didn't say anything, but tightened his grip. It felt comforting, even though I thought to myself that here's a man who has probably killed a lot of people before last night. But now he just felt like something that kept me from getting lost in a storm wind.

He loosened his arms so that he could face me.

”Damn right you did. That fuck face came in to _your_ house, and tried to kill a young girl. Some _fuckin'_ hero. You protected yourself and your family.”

I weakly shook my head again.

”I know. It was just the thought of having killed someone. Poof. And you're gone. My mind couldn't handle it and my mom started drinking because of it. Because her daughter could even do something like that.”

”Well, then she was a cunt. No offense. She should've been there for you, not pitying herself.”

Hancock didn't really say anything that I hadn't heard before, either from the shrink (of course, she hadn't called my mom a cunt or used a name fuck face) or from myself when I was processing the whole thing back then. But hearing it from him, from someone who clearly knew death, it somehow struck me deeper than before.

”Listen to me. You clearly had a traumatic experience. Besides snoozing for 200 years and waking up in a world that's somewhere between Hell and worse. But let me tell you where I come from.”

And, so he told me. He told me about his brother and how the ghouls got banished from Diamond City. He still was a human back then, but became a ghoul after using an experimental drug. He told me about Vic, who ran the town of Goodneighbor before him – a ruthless mob boss, who killed Hancock's friend through his henchmen. Finally, he told me how he found the clothes of John Hancock and how he overthrew Vic from power.

When the story was finished, he was sitting beside me and a thin line of smoke rose from his lit cigar.

” _Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth_ ”, I quoted slowly.

”Hm?” Hancock turned his head to look at me.

”Lincoln's speech during the Civil War. You got the quote from him?” I smiled.

Hancock put the cigar between his lips and smirked.

”Who knows. Maybe I really was so high that the ghosts already started talking to me.”

I examined my hands. They had stopped shaking for a good while ago.

”You helped me again”, I noted.

”I remember when I first killed someone. I was somewhere around my twenties. Afterwards I needed a bottle of bourbon to calm my nerves. He had deserved everything that came to him, but I do remember thinking of what right did I have to end someone's life. I don't think I ever found the answer to that. All I know now is I don't hesitate if I have to pull out my gun. But the difference between me and the most is that I make sure the person standing in the wrong end of the barrel really deserves it.”

Hancock looked at the cigar stump in his fingers and flicked it away before standing up. He turned and held out his hand to me.

”If you want to protect life, usually someone has to lose it, too. As long as you do what's right and defend those in need while doing it, I'll be there with you and remind you of it, if you need me to.”

The effect of his words were slightly softened by the memory of him attacking the men at the auction. He had had the look of someone who was extremely enjoying themselves. But it still made me feel a small jolt, which at the same time frightened and excited me.

I took his hand and he lifted me up. Then he went to pick up the gun and put it back on the table, with rest of them. I followed his movements and stared at the guns for a while with a blank mind.

”Let's call it for the day”, he decided. ”Do you feel like eating?”

”I could eat”, I replied, but someone knocked on the door just then and Fahrenheit came in without waiting for us to answer.

”Hancock”, she exclaimed. ”There's... news. Good and bad.”

Hancock glanced at me, but nodded to her so she could continue.

”You don't like it”, Fahrenheit warned. ”But we did find the big guy, Bobby, of whom Ree told us. He came to the bridge where we were waiting for him. The bad news is, he really didn't want to get caught... So one of our guys accidentally shot him to death. We did take a look at the cart which he rode here, as well as his belongings, but there wasn't anything useful.”

Hancock's face darkened.

”Who shot him?”

”It doesn't matter. But we also got a message from Valentine's office. He's on his way,” Fahrenheit averted his question diplomatically.

Hancock took a deep breath, though he looked like he wanted to beat someone up.

”Fine. Good. Just don't go killing off those three down the cages just yet, Nick might be able to pick up something from them,” he grunted with a sour voice.

”...have they told anything at all?” I asked carefully from Fahrenheit and she turned to face me.

”Only Patterson has given us some information, but most of it we already know. That their business is a large network operating in other places, as well. He did give us some of the client's names of which he knew, but apparently they haven't been actively ”shopping” for new slaves in a while. We have asked about your friend, of course, but the guy who brought you in here claims that they only dropped her off at a meeting point, and she was taken somewhere farther from there.”

I felt the earth beneath sway a bit. If what Fahrenheit told me just now was true, then it was possible that Holly was out of my reach for good. If she was taken somewhere far from Boston, then our chances would be even worse than slim.

”Anyway, as the things look now, with the names Patterson and the others gave us we might be able to bust some more auctions and take care of the network's main operators, but we can't deal with the whole country”, she directed her words to Hancock again.

”You can't save everyone. So just we'll do our best with what we have.”

With that, Fahrenheit excused herself and left. Hancock put his hands in his pockets and sighed.

”You know, she's right”, I said after a moment had passed without him saying anything. Hancock shot a sharp look at me, but didn't answer. I somewhat knew what he was feeling right now. Frustration of being unable to do more. And since I had a hunch that he was also very proud man, it was even more hard for him to admit defeat.

Eventually he took out his cigars again, and after lighting one up he looked at me again a bit more calmer.

”Yeah. I know. I'm sorry for your friend.”

My heart felt like it couldn't get any more tighter every time I thought about Holly, but I shook my head and forced something of a smile on my face.

”I'll find her. Sooner or later. We're still not out of options and until I see her, alive, or... well, until then, I'm going to look for her.”

Hancock drew a smile on his ghoul face.

”She's lucky to have you as a friend. Let's go find something to eat.”

…

That day Hancock showed me around in Goodneighbor. He introduced me to the merchants of Kill or Be Killed and Daisy's Discounts. We passed The Third Rail, but didn't go in. I still shivered when I remembered standing on one of the tables like a show animal.

I was genuinely impressed with Hancock and how the inhabitants react to him – and of course, Goodneighbor itself. It was clearly full of outcasts and criminals, but most of them honored the rules which Hancock had established there. He also had the Neighborhood Watch to enforce the rules and get rid of everyone who didn't obey them. It was a safe haven for drifters and others who didn't feel they could belong to anywhere else.

When I told Hancock this, I swear he grew a bit taller. He _was_ a proud man, but with a good reason to be, too. The more I got to know him the more I found enjoying his company. He talked a lot and probably tried to distract me from thinking Holly too much, or about the incident in the warehouse. I didn't let him know that I was on to him, but I really just felt relieved to have so much things to see and hear, so I could immerse myself in something else than worrying.

Once I did ask him if he didn't have anything more important to do than keeping me company, but he just grinned and said that it was all included perks of being a mayor.

”When I'm not training”, I said to him, ”could I maybe be useful somehow? I don't want to be a constant bother or dead weight.”

He promised to think of something that I could do.

”We can also find you some other type of weapons for now, but sooner or later you'll have to have a gun.” He glanced at me and took a sip of bourbon. We were sitting at his office and I was getting tired. The day had turned to night, though the noises from the street were getting louder. I guess the people here were more of a night owls than early birds.

I nodded. If I were to stay alive, it was necessary for me to defeat the trauma. I just wasn't sure how it could ever happen.

Hancock left his glass on his desk and came to sit on the sofa with me. He took something from his pocket and I saw it was a device that looked very much like a red inhalator. I watched as he took a hit of it and seemed to relax quite a bit.

”That's more like it”, he smiled through the smoke.

I took the jet from him and observed the little thing. It looked so harmless, even though I knew what it was.

”I've never even smoked tobacco. Back when... before the bomb, I didn't have many friends, so I didn't hang around in the bars that much, either. Sometimes I drank wine. How does it feel?”

He stretched his arms behind the sofa and took his eyes from me to look up. His eyes didn't look as sharp as earlier.

”It feels... like I'm alive. And rockin' it.”

Feeling a sudden need of wanting to do something I wouldn't normally do, I put the mouth piece between my lips before I could think about it too much. I pressed down with my index finger, while inhaling. The cool fumes entered my lungs and since I didn't really know what to expect, I started coughing.

Hancock burst into a laugh and patted roughly my back, until I was able to breathe again. I dropped the jet on the table and slumped back. I expected my back hit the worn cushions immediately, but for my surprise it felt like I was moving in slow-motion. A bit like everything was under water – the air created a similar resistance to my movement like while swimming.

”Ohh”, I closed my eyes. ”I feel like I'm in the bottom of the ocean.”

I felt the cushions under me shifting a bit, when the weight beside me moved.

I opened my eyes and noticed Hancock looking at me closely.

”Just wait. It gets better.”

I looked up at the ceiling with my head tilted back. The shapes of the ceiling boards kept altering, like watching them under the waves. I also noticed that the colors of the walls were brighter in the lights of some candles and few weak bulbs.

”Is it always like this?” I asked and heard my voice sounding sluggish.

”Not always, but when the trip is good, just enjoy it when it happens.”

”No wonder so many are doing it.”

Hancock stood up and walked to the other side of the room. I tried to make out what he was doing, but it was like the sofa was gently sucking me back in. I didn't mind. For the first time for... well, for over two hundred years I didn't feel like afraid.

I heard an electric buzzing, and some classical music filled the room.

”Oh. Oh wow”, I opened my eyes.

”I know”, Hancock agreed with me from somewhere close. Then he was right in front of me, offering his hand. ”Care to have a dance with an old ghoul?”

I giggled ( _Really._ When was the last time I had _giggled_?!) and made an apologetic face.

”I don't think I can get up.”

Without asking again he bent down, grabbed my hands and helped me up. I was swaying, or the floor was, but I managed to stand on my feet. Of course he had much more tolerance to jet than I did, so naturally he didn't lose his ability to move surely.

He drew me closer, put my left hand on his shoulder and slid his right hand behind my waist. Then he took my right hand in his own.

Having him so close would've normally made me very uncomfortable, but while the jet made me feel fuzzy and happy, I didn't think anything of it. He started moving around, but slowly, so I could keep up. The music felt like it flowed through me.

”This feels amazing”, I smiled. ”I can't even remember when I was last dancing. Or if I was dancing alone or with someone. I'm glad that this kind of music survived to this day. I love classical.”

Hancock smiled. Was he now closer than a moment ago?

”I like music, too. Normally I'd prefer something jazzier, but now I'm kinda in the mood for this.”

I was starting to feel somewhat dizzy.

”I'm sorry, can you get me back to the sofa? I might pass out.”

”It's just a phase. It'll soon go away”, he assured, but helped me to sit down.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds and raised my hands to rub them. When I opened them and looked up, his face was hanging on top of me. He had leaned his left knee on the sofa and was supporting himself by keeping his hands on the back of the furniture.

My heart skipped a beat. He looked in my eyes and grinned softly.

”Want to know what else is much more fun when you're trippin'?” he asked with his hoarse voice lower than usual.

I couldn't think of anything to answer, so I just returned his gaze. _This guy could snap your neck like a twig just like that_ , I heard some still rational part of my brains shout at me. _He's dangerous. Get up and run!_ But I just stayed still.

He lifted his hand and touched my hair, which I had earlier opened. His fingers ran between the hair for a short while and his gaze narrowed, when he watched for my expressions. I still said nothing, but my lips parted without thinking. I was completely unaware what I was doing, though my body felt like it was waiting for something.

When I didn't make any effort to move away, a trace of a smile was drawn on his face and he took his hand down from my hair to gently brush my neck. It sent a bunch of sparkles underneath my skin and I shivered. In response he pressed himself lower against me, so that I could feel the warmth coming out of his body.

Jet, which had earlier filled my head with bright colors, seemed also amplify sensations and right now I was in the middle of a storm. I felt a need. It was raw, undeniable need to get closer to him. The storm came crashing down on me and I understood what this was. It was lust. But what was it to him? Was this just something that jet had conjured?

”Wait”, I said. My voice sounded weird, a bit muffled. Or, at least I thought I said that, because Hancock had been wrong. I fell down in a black hole and it gulped me down, whole.

 


End file.
